


fervent as a flame

by stickynoted



Series: seasons of love [2]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-07
Updated: 2016-10-07
Packaged: 2018-08-20 01:06:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8230942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stickynoted/pseuds/stickynoted
Summary: “The three of us. Just us.”(The story of how the three came to be.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> this has taken so long!!! aaa i'm so sorry to those people who waited for this since July oh my god but school has been so draining lately ;; thank you for everyone's patience and support tho it means a lot!
> 
> a disclaimer: every name that doesn't belong to an SVT/NUEST member is made up

****

Jeonghan can vaguely make out the sound of the birds chirping from outside his window and the quiet bustle of early morning from his sleepy state. There’s sunlight creeping in through the blinds and trying to get to him but he rolls over and tucks himself further into his blanket before it can reach.

He gets in another five or ten minutes of sleep before the door to his room swings open with a bang, eliciting a groan out of him. There’s a sound of footsteps followed by a sensation on his back that he can only explain as a plush object smacking him multiple times, each hit punctuated by an overly cheery “oppa”.

“Oppa,” he feels a hit, “Oppa, get up,” and another, “Oppa, hurry up,” one more, “For the love of God, get up.”

Jeonghan sticks a hand out from his cocoon to attempt to blindly bat at his sister and her pillow. “Jiae, stop,” he mumbles into his covers but his sister isn’t having any of it as she grabs his hand and tries to haul him out of the blanket that has turned him into a burrito.

“Only when you actually get up and get ready to go to school,” Jiae replies, hand gripping the pillow still sending smacks to what she assumes to be her brother’s torso. Jeonghan tries to wiggle his arm out of her grasp but can’t seem to find the energy to give a proper pull.  


“School can wait, sleep cannot,” Jeonghan sticks his head under his pillow and tries to block out the frustrated noises coming from his sister’s mouth. When she realizes hitting and pulling him just isn’t working out, she sighs and puts the pillow down in seeming defeat.

“You leave me no choice then,” she says solemnly and Jeonghan has half the mind to stick his head out from under the pillow to check on her until he feels a sharp pain in his arm that has him shooting up to glare at Jiae.

“Did you just bite me?” Jeonghan asks, incredulous. Jiae only smiles brightly at him before patting his shoulder.

“Good morning! Wash up, breakfast is ready,” she says before bounding out the door, pillow in hand. Jeonghan huffs before running a hand down his face.

“Brat.” Jeonghan swings his legs over his bed frame and makes his way out of his room and out to the kitchen to face his parents.

“The morning angel rises,” Jeonghan’s mother bemuses as he takes his seat and faceplants onto the table. She laughs before smacking him on the shoulder, telling him to get up so she can set the food.  


“What is with the women in this house and hitting me all the time?” Jeonghan whines, rubbing the sore spot on his shoulder and his father laughs heartily.

“I just learned to let it be. Women can never be understood completely, Jeonghan,” his father says, tone attempting comforting but hitting teasing more. Jeonghan laughs before digging into the breakfast set in front of him.

“Explains why he isn’t into girls,” Jiae chirps as she takes her seat next to him and Jeonghan is tempted to push his sister off the chair if it wasn’t for the fact their parents were right there.

The breakfast conversation is comfortable and relaxed and finishes at around 7:15, just in time for Jeonghan to wash up and get ready to catch the bus to go back to campus and dorm. He’s standing at the doorway by 7:30, backpack slung over his shoulder and a plastic full of food to bring back to the dorm in his grasp. There’s a familiar feeling of sadness in his heart that he has to leave his family again to go back to school after a weekend of fun, but he knows that it’s for the best; it’s not like his school is too far out anyway.

“It’s been good to see you, Jeonghan,” his mother says as she gives him a tight hug after passing him the plastic bag. “You take care of yourself and call us when you get back, alright?”

Jeonghan nods in affirmation, never one to worry his parents. He gives his dad a hug, wishing him well and that he’ll come home again soon. Jeonghan gives Jiae a kiss on her head followed by a hug before he’s out the door to catch the bus back to his high school life.

The dorm is quiet when he gets back and he’s reminded that it’s a school holiday and the likelihood that his roommate would be awake was next to zero. His suspicions are confirmed when he unlocks the door to his room and finds himself faced with darkness and light snoring.

Jeonghan slips in quietly and places his bags down next to his desk where he finds a note scribbled out messily.

  


_ Jeonghan, _

_ If i’m still asleep by the time u read this, pls wake me up i have shit to finish. Thanks ilu _

_ Jisoo. _

  


Jeonghan checks his watch and sure enough it’s 8am, so Jeonghan reaches over to open the blinds to let some light into their dorm room. He spots the cans of coffee scattered on Jisoo’s side of the room as well as the copious amounts of papers stacked on top of his laptop, and he can tell he’s barely left their unit all weekend.

“Jisoo,” Jeonghan gently shakes the sleeping lump on the bed, only to get a garbled “mfngh” as a reply. “You had me wake you because you have shit to do.”

The lump slowly wriggles until Jisoo pops a very disgruntled head out of the covers. He’s squinting at the light in the room before giving Jeonghan a wave.

“Ugh, morning,” he yawns, Jeonghan ruffling his hair in response. “What time is it?”

“Just past 8. You had a good weekend, I guess?” Jeonghan asks, looking pointedly at the half-finished whiteboard checklist on Jisoo’s wall.

Jisoo struggles to free himself from his blankets but manages without any injuries apart from hitting his head on his bed frame. “I got most of my assignments done aside from anything to do with math or science. How was yours?”

“Good. Spent most of it asleep and eating, as well as helping my sister with homework,” Jeonghan replies as he sits on his own bed to unpack his weekend bag. He reaches over and passes Jisoo a still warm tupperware of food. “This is from my mom. She says to stop having just kimbap and ramen for breakfast.”

“Send her my thanks,” Jisoo says graciously as he pulls the cover off and digs into the warm rice and ham. “Ah, I love your mom.” Jisoo fakes wiping away a tear, making Jeonghan laugh. They stay quiet for a few minutes before Jisoo suddenly coughs on a swallow. “Holy shit, I didn’t tell you, did I?”

Jeonghan looks up from sorting his clothes to raise an eyebrow as Jisoo who’s eyes are wide and awake. “Tell me what?”

“Remember Ahyoung? Seungcheol’s ex?” Jisoo asks and Jeonghan merely nods so he continues. “Apparently she’s hooked up with Seokhwan.”

Jeonghan raises an eyebrow at the name and looks at Jisoo. “Seokhwan as in--”

“As in swimmer boy Soonyoung caught me with? Yep,” Jisoo replies with a grimace at the memory.

“The rat is a cancer to society. I mean, as if cheating on Seungcheol wasn’t bad enough but getting with Seokhwan, the entitled piece of shit who broke your heart with his elitist bullshit? Damn.” Jeonghan remarks and Jisoo nods in agreement.

“Let the snakes stay together.” Jisoo shrugs his shoulders and Jeonghan can tell he’s trying to repress his emotions by the way he puts all his attention to his food and his shoulders tense up a little. He was so angry when he found out that Ahyoung cheated on Seungcheol that he almost fought her in the school cafeteria if it wasn’t for Jeonghan and Minhyun holding him back. Jeonghan understands him though; he and Seungcheol nearly broke Seokhwan’s face when he ended things with Jisoo by saying he’s “just not that in love with him”.

“That’s not all though.” If there’s one thing Jeonghan’s learned about Jisoo that he never expected (aside from his sexuality), it’s that he loves drama and hearing about other people’s lives; he’s probably worse than Minki ‑ and Jeonghan’s heard a ton of gossip from Minki.

“Holy shit, Jisoo, I’ve only been gone a weekend. Why are you making it seem like I missed a month’s worth of drama?”

“Because a lot went down while you were away.” Jisoo answers, grinning and flicking a rice grain at Jeonghan. “Anyway, some guy’s been calling Junhui really racist shit and he got so fed up, he punched him in the middle of class.”

“Wow, what the hell,” Jeonghan mutters, running a hand through his hair. Jisoo only nods in agreement.

“I love high school drama,” Jisoo says brightly as he sticks rice in his mouth and Jeonghan can only shake his head and smile at Jisoo fondly.

“Of course you do.”

* * *

“The ability for water to flow in tight spaces is called…?” Jisoo’s voice trails off, waiting for an answer.  


“High polarity,” Seungcheol mumbles, face pressed against the wooden floor of his dorm room.  


“Are you even trying?” Seungcheol feels Jisoo poke him with his foot and he groans, batting the offending foot away.

“High heat capacity,” Jeonghan pipes up from across the room, lying on his back in a warm spot where a sunbeam hits, using his chemistry book as a pillow.

“You’re both hopeless,” Jisoo says, flinging a crumpled up paper in their direction and landing it on Seungcheol’s butt. “It’s capillary action.”

“I’ve long accepted that I’m going to fail science finals.” Seungcheol lifts his head from the floor and looks at Jisoo, comfortably lying on the bed. “Why are you on my bed?”

“There is literally only one bed in this room, and the both of you are on the floor so I took the bed,” Jisoo answers like it’s the most obvious thing in the world and Seungcheol kind of wants to throw a book at him.  


“Actually,” Jeonghan muses from where he’s rolled over to lie half on Seungcheol, head on his stomach. “I called the bed first but then you sprawled out on it before I got the chance to, so my presence on the floor is just out of courtesy.”

Jisoo snorts before rolling onto his side to look at them. “If you really wanted the bed, you would be lying on it, my presence be damned.”  


Jeonghan lifts his head to raise an eyebrow at Jisoo. “Is that a challenge?” he asks, lilt to his voice and Seungcheol can already tell where this is going so he throws an arm over Jeonghan’s chest.

“I know what you’re thinking. You’re going to break my bed,” he warns and Jeonghan squirms in his grasp.

“I am not going to break your bed by jumping on Jisoo,” he answers, trying to wriggle his way out of Seungcheol’s grip.

“I’d like to see you try,” Jisoo challenges from his spot, grinning down at Jeonghan.

“That’s it.” Jeonghan pinches Seungcheol’s wrist hard, effectively freeing him from the hold and causing a very unmanly yelp out of Seungcheol. He takes two big strides and flops onto Jisoo with a loud “oof”. Seungcheol watches with amusement (and slight worry) as Jeonghan and Jisoo play fight on the mattress, Jeonghan tickling Jisoo and, at the same time, trying to shove him off the bed. Jisoo uses one of Seungcheol’s pillows to shield him and occasionally hitting him with it.

Seungcheol hoists himself up from the floor and jumps onto them, making use of the momentum to roll around, causing more yelps from Jeonghan and laughter out of Jisoo who’s turning a light shade of pink from the weight on him. Seungcheol stops rolling and takes in their situation: Jeonghan has his chin resting on Jisoo’s shoulder and Jisoo’s arms are wrapped loosely around Seungcheol’s waist who’s got his hands pressed into the mattress so as to not put too much weight on Jeonghan’s back. There’s a warmth that creeps up from inside Seungcheol and he can’t help a smile making its way onto his lips because this – being with one another, playing around with reckless abandon – feels like the world’s getting itself back together.  


“Get off me, I’m going to suffocate.” Jisoo breaks the silence that’s fallen over them when he wheezes out from under them and Seungcheol and Jeonghan slide off, Jeonghan slipping next to Jisoo and Seungcheol leaning against the wall, Jeonghan’s legs draped over his thighs as Jisoo tries to regain oxygen in his lungs.

“So,” Seungcheol starts, smile still plastered on his face from the tussle they got into. “coffee break?”

* * *

Graduation is a blur of smiles to cameras, diplomas being received, hands shaking hands, and some tears of joy because after four years, they’re finally out of high school and off to university. Jisoo can vaguely recall his name being called and receiving his diploma from his principal but he can definitely remember the high-five he and Seungcheol shared and the thumbs up he shot to Jeonghan as he walked back to his seat.  


It’s now 8:30pm and Jisoo, Jeonghan, and Seungcheol are in Jisoo and Jeonghan’s shared dorm room for the last time before they start taking things down to pass on their room to the freshmen arriving next year. They’re sharing a pizza and a box of chicken a tad too small for three people, and a bottle of Sprite because they aren’t in much of a mood for alcohol, intoxicated from the thought of being graduates. Seungcheol’s long packed up his room and his bags and boxes are tucked away in a corner of Jisoo and Jeonghan’s room, his own dorm room now a deserted shell.

“Can you believe we’re still going to see one another at university? How are we not sick of each other?” Jeonghan jokes before sticking a chicken wing in his mouth.

“I don’t know. I’ve stuck out the last four years with you guys, I find it a little hard to imagine the next four without you,” Jisoo says and he watches with a grin as Jeonghan and Seungcheol cringe themselves half to death with how mushy the sentiment is. The smiles they shared though let Jisoo know that they felt the same way.

After around ten minutes of reminiscing and bickering over who gets the last drumstick in the box, they’re lying on one another, similar to the position they were in during their playfight in Seungcheol’s room; Seungcheol’s head settled on Jeonghan’s thighs, who in turn, is leaning back on Jisoo’s shoulder, Jisoo sitting up and holding them all together with an arm around Jeonghan’s torso and a leg draped over Seungcheol’s chest.

“So,” Seungcheol breaks the comfortable silence that’s fallen over them. “When are we going to talk about this?”

Jisoo gives him a confused look and he feels Jeonghan hum against his chest. “What is ‘this’ exactly?” Jisoo asks Seungcheol who’s now sitting up to face them, leaning on Jeonghan’s bed frame to support him.

“‘This’ is us,” Seungcheol replies, gesturing to the three of them. “We aren’t an average group of friends here, guys. I don't even think we can fit into ‘friends’ anymore.”

Jisoo takes one good look at Seungcheol’s face and his eyes and he understands almost immediately what he was trying to get at. “I get it. I really do. And part of me wants it too.”

“What does the other part of you want?” Seungcheol asks.

“That part’s just not sure of what it wants.”  


“Wait, I’m still lost. What exactly are we trying to discuss here? Like what about us?” Jeonghan asks, now sitting on his desk chair instead of in between Jisoo’s legs.

“The three of us, Jeonghan. Just us.” Jisoo barely explains but Jeonghan can read into his words, his tone, and his and Seungcheol’s faces enough to catch on and all he can say is a quiet “oh”.

“We’re off to bigger places. Uni’s going to be a wild ride but I want to be on that ride with you both.” Seungcheol wasn’t the smartest out of the three of them but he was always the one who liked to experiment and try things, to push limits the most so starting this conversation was in his nature.

Jisoo nods slowly, brushing his fringe away from his eyes. “I don’t see why we shouldn’t try it out. We never know.”

The both of them look at Jeonghan who’s gnawing on his lower lip and looking back and forth between the two of them. “It’s not very conventional,” he says quietly, almost to himself.

Jisoo makes his way toward Jeonghan’s chair, scooting his way to sit by his feet. He hears Seungcheol follow suit, sitting next to Jisoo and lightly resting his chin on Jeonghan’s knee. Jisoo shifts a little to hook his right pinky with Seungcheol’s index.

“Unconventional doesn’t mean it’s not good,” Seungcheol voices out, tone holding a hint of expectation and hope that Jisoo can hear almost clearly. He understands where Jeonghan’s hesitation is coming from; neither he nor Jisoo were exposed to the concept of polyamory often – Seungcheol knew more about it because of his fondness of reading all sorts of things. Jisoo was more willing to try it out because of his time in the States where the LGBTQ+ community was a little more liberal. Jeonghan, on the other hand, has spent his life surrounded by conservatism and the idea of monogamy has been ingrained in him since birth.

“Jeonghan,” Jisoo pipes up softly, placing a warm hand on Jeonghan’s thigh and he locks eyes with Jisoo, gaze a little dazed. “We aren’t going to force you into something you don’t want to do.”

Jeonghan looks from him to his and Seungcheol’s fingers to Seungcheol who’s pressed his cheek onto Jeonghan’s knee, still looking up at him. He breathes out a sigh before taking hold Jisoo’s left hand and running his other hand through Seungcheol’s hair. He smiles down at the both of them before nodding slightly.

“Let’s give it a shot.”

Who would have thought that shot would go on strong for more than three years?

**Author's Note:**

> hmu on twitter if you wanna be friends and stuff! @ sproutshua


End file.
